Of Cakes and Bubble Gums
by restive
Summary: There is only one person in this worlds that irritates Beth so much she wants to strangle him in his sleep. One-shot.


_**I have no idea where this came from. I guess this is what happens when you try to put fanfiction aside for at least one afternoon and finally do you history essay.**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.**_

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There were certain reasons as to why Beth never wanted to get into a physical fight.

First and foremost, she always liked to think she was not an aggressive person. Her parents had taught her to solve any possible conflicts verbally as opposed to beating her way out of them. Secondly, she didn't exactly have the appropriate physique to be able to stand a chance of physically protecting herself, let alone winning a fight. More than once Beth had witnessed her mother stitching up Shawn's wounds after he would beat someone or get beaten up at school, and she had no desire for any first-hand experience with that. Furthermore, she had a reputation of a delicate and beloved little girl and she liked to uphold it. Not that she cared much about what others thought, it was more of her trying to always do her best to make her parents proud. And lastly, she had never met a person who would annoy her so much she would want to punch them. Well, there had always been one person who pissed her off so much it felt like she had smoke coming out of her ears, but she refused to believe she would be able to raise her hand at him. Even if, sometimes, she really wanted to.

So, as Beth sat in the passenger seat of Jimmy's car, listening to him talk, she kept repeating those reasons in her head. She had to stay calm and not hit, or punch, or slap him. Even if Jimmy was _really_ asking for it.

'Just try to understand,' he said and looked at her with a smirk that made her squirm. 'This relationship is boring. Sarah is so much more fun.'

Beth sucked in a breath sharply as she tried to collect her thoughts together and remain calm. She was just compared to Sarah Moore, the sluttiest girl in their school, the common whore that had slept with the whole football team. She is _fun_? That's what it's called now?

'Besides, you are afraid of a serious relationship,' Jimmy stated, and Beth was on the edge of her patience of a saint (or at least she liked to think that). 'You're just a kid.'

That straw broke the camel's back, and Beth's hand flew up in an abrupt movement, meeting with Jimmy's face in a resounding slap.

'Douchebag,' Beth declared and popped out of the car like a champagne cork.

She sprinted through the trees and bushes and she kept running until she saw a highway. It was empty, not a single car passing by, and as she sat down on a crash barrier, starting to calm down, she was trying to come up with as many insults she could use for Jimmy as possible. She put _idiot_ aside straight away, deciding it was way too kind for a person as mean as him. If bringing your girlfriend to the place where you first made out to break up with her was not mean, she didn't know what was. There was _douchebag_ , of course, because that's everything but original. Then there were _bastard_ , _dickhead_ , _wanker_ , _prick_ , _asshole_ , and the classic _scumbag_. She spent a good hour just sitting there and thinking of all the ways she could murder Jimmy.

It was getting dark and she contemplated calling Maggie or Shawn so that they could pick her up, but she realised she had no idea where she was. Besides, Beth had no desire seeing them roll their eyes at their baby sister, who always seemed to be in trouble. Which was not true. _Of course not_.

She got up, taking off her high heeled shoes, and started walking in a direction that felt like the right one. Of course, Jimmy, the real _gentleman_ , left her stuck here, in the middle of nowhere. Why was she not surprised?

Beth kept walking, and it kept getting darker, when suddenly she heard a sound of an approaching car, and she turned around to see a familiar grey-ish pickup truck. Beth threw her head back in an exasperated sigh. _Not him._ She had no strength to deal with his crap right now.

'Enjoying the fresh air, honeybuns?' Daryl asked as he drove up to her and slowed down, adjusting to her walking pace.

Beth huffed in annoyance. She hated that nickname, and knowing that, he kept using it for years now, ever since he and Shawn read her diary where she, as a ten-year-old, wrote about her crush on Daryl. He wouldn't let go of it, even though it's been almost eight years, and her crush on him – she is _sure_ of it – had been long gone.

Daryl and Shawn (but mostly Daryl) had been the cause of her embarrassment on multiple occasions, actually. Like that one time they saw her kissing one of Ryan Gosling's posters in her room (she always made sure the door was shut firmly from then on). Or when she had accidentally pushed a cake (that her mother had spent four hours baking for Maggie's thirteenth birthday) off the table. Or when she was trying to climb out of the window to Jimmy, in what was supposed to be one of the most romantic moments in her life, and faceplanted right onto her boyfriend. (She still had no idea what Daryl was doing outside then, anyway.) Or when she fell asleep while sunbathing in the backyard with her sunglasses on, and while – thanks to Georgia's hot summers – her whole body ended up with that sophisticated lobster-like red tint, the skin around her eyes remained pale, making the mirror reflection of herself remind her of an alien. Of course, Daryl had always been there and never failed to provide her with wonderfully creative and supposedly funny comments that made her want to strangle him in his sleep. Everyone else seemed to enjoy her embarrassment immensely though, since every time she wished the earth swallowed her up, Daryl had something to say about it, making her family cry of laughter.

'How did you even find me?' she asked, cursing under her breath as she kept walking next to the car.

'That prick Jimmy called. Said you stormed out on him and disappeared in the woods.'

'Of course he did,' Beth snorted and threw her arms in the air desperately.

'You know, that doesn't surprise me,' he said. 'Hence your lack of sensibility when it comes to making judgements about people.'

'Could you please stop being an ass? Just for a second?' Beth exclaimed, noticing that her irritation had completely shifted from Jimmy to Daryl. 'Don't you have anyone else to make fun of?'

'Beth-' Daryl tried to say, but Beth cut him off.

'I'm serious, Daryl. I'm not in the mood for your stupid jerky jokes,' she said, folding her arms, feeling her feet getting tired of walking on the pavement barefoot. 'Just leave me alone and let me feel shit about myself in a solitude for once.'

'Get in the car, Beth,' Daryl said, much quieter this time and without hint of amusement in his tone. 'Please,' he added.

Beth sighed and waited for him to stop, opening the door and shutting it behind her. They were quiet for some time, Beth sick of talking for today, and Daryl probably having no idea what to say since he was not joking around for a minute.

'Drive, please,' Beth said and looked in the window, preparing for a number of lectures she was going to get from Shawn and Maggie once she got home.

The car stayed still though, and Beth decided to let him start his teasing that he obviously had planned. She was ready to take anything when she heard him speak.

'Want one?' he asked, and Beth whipped her head to look at him.

Daryl was holding a pack of strawberry bubble gum, the specific ones that she always used to buy when she was a kid. She swallowed at the thought that he remembered. Why would he remember her favourite bubble gum?

'What am I, twelve?' she couldn't help but retort.

'Come one. You know you want it,' he said with a smile in his voice, while his face remained serious.

'Fine,' she said, rolling her eyes.

Beth tore one open and popped it into her mouth. When she looked out of the window again, she couldn't suppress a smile.

He finally started the car, and Beth tried to stop herself from sighing in relief. She just wanted to get home, lie down, and cry her eyes out. Although, she had to admit, the bubble gum still tasted pretty good.

'Did he hurt you?' Daryl suddenly asked, and Beth felt her heart skip a beat at that.

'No,' she shrugged her shoulders markedly nonchalantly. 'How could his cheating hurt me?'

The sarcasm in her voice felt like poison. Daryl didn't say anything else, and when he pulled up in front of the farmhouse, Beth just got out of the car and sprinted up the stairs to her bedroom.

The next morning, when she forced herself to get up (which was actually closer to lunchtime), she got a text from Jimmy that made her frown. He told her to _keep her fucking lapdog on a tighter leash_ , to be specific. Beth had no idea what he meant so she just strolled downstairs, still wearing her pajamas. When she saw Daryl in the kitchen, having a glass of water, her gaze fell onto his knuckles. They were all covered in smeared and dried blood.

Beth didn't know what happened next. It's just that when she opened her eyes next time, she found herself hugging Daryl, with her arms around his neck. For some reason, in that moment she felt like she could trust him with her life.

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 _ **Thank you so much for reading, and please, review! :)**_


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